by Alice Ward
“I didn’t want them to die, and I hated to eat fish. The bones poked my mouth,” he remembered with distaste.
“Yeah, and what did you do?”
“Well, you and he caught a lot of fish.”
“I think we caught twelve.” We had a banner fishing day, I recalled.
“I was just hanging over the boat, putting my hands in the water.” Wenton laughed at his devilishness.
I laughed. “Yes, those little hands were under the water, quietly unstringing and releasing each one.”
“Grandpa was like, ‘Where are all the dead fish coming from?’ Cause some of them already died.” Wenton did his best impersonation of our stuffy grandfather, and I nearly fell over laughing.
It was our grandfather’s one and only fishing trip with us. He was a sports fisherman who loved to compete in local fishing events and prided himself on his expert skills. He had invited a group of people over for a fish fry with freshly caught fish, but since Wenton released them all, he had to get store bought. I don’t think his reputation survived that incident.
“And we made a deal that we would lie and say Grandpa didn’t catch any.” I was so proud of that day.
“And we never told anyone ever,” Wenton confessed. He looked at Caitlyn. “Until now.”
“Our mom was so pissed because she knew something was up, but we stood together, and Grandpa nearly killed us,” I added.
“Then there was that time we stole all of cousin Patty’s undies from the dryer,” Wenton said.
My nostrils flared. “Oh yeah, she was visiting us from Maine, and she was bothering you, right?”
“She got mad at me because I got permanent ink on her purse.” Wenton looked a bit guilty about this one.
“You played connect the dots with the Louis Vuitton symbols with a sharpie,” I reminded him.
He frowned, looking angry now. “And she called the police. They got mad, but I didn’t go to jail.”
“So, you stole all her underwear out of the dryer on the day she was leaving. That was brilliant because she had our maid wash all her clothes since she was going home for summer break after our house. You left her like one pair of dirties.”
“Again…we knew nothing,” he said, his fingers coming up to his lips to lock them up.
Caitlyn slapped her thigh. “You guys were terrible.”
“We weren’t the only ones,” I defended my brother. “People didn’t always get us, they were so distant and judgmental, we were better off without them. Right, Wenton?”
But Wenton didn’t answer. He was starting to show some signs of fatigue, his breathing had become shallow, and his eyes rolled in his head.
“Wenton!” I yelled.
To my enormous relief, he snapped out of it and came back to us. I knew we had precious little time left.
“Maybe it’s time for us to go back, buddy.” I wasn’t ready to take him back, but he seemed to be fading.
Robert screeched to a halt and began unloading the car. Along with the requested items, he brought collapsible camping chairs and a table. I was seriously impressed with all he was able to wrangle in such a short time. Another big bonus was in order.
“Wow, you’re amazing,” I said.
“God bless Target,” was his dry response.
We set out the picnic he brought. Nothing too extravagant, but some of Wenton’s favorites, peanut butter and jelly. Brie and grapes, juice boxes and some wine for Caitlyn and me. Sour Cream & Onion Pringles and Snickers. Just what the doctor ordered. I brought Wenton over to the table.
“Look at this, Wenton,” I said, showing him the spread, “It’s a picnic!”
“Ohhhh, take a picture of all three of us,” he said as we scooted together and took a selfie in front of the food. “Send it to me,” he demanded.
I texted him the picture: LOVE = Picnic.
We ate our meal as Wenton slowly faded.
“We should get you back soon, buddy. Caitlyn and I might have to spend a night in jail if we keep you out any longer.” I was getting worried that he was slipping so fast.
As much as I hated to admit it, the hospital was the best place for him.
“Just a minute more, please?” he asked.
He was staring at the castle on the hill at the nearest end of the lake. The house was an eyesore; it was the biggest home in the area and looked like a medieval castle. My mom had such shit taste. My father had it built for her from scratch. According to him, it wasn’t his undying love that inspired the architecture but rather his need to just “shut her up” about it.
“Do you think they’re home?” he asked.
“Maybe, do you want me to go check?” I figured this might be the final curtain, so if Wenton wanted it, I would do anything.
“No,” Wenton wheezed, “just say goodbye, okay.”
“Ah, they’ll come next family day, I’m sure.” I was just straight up lying to him.
He did nothing but roll his eyes.
“Okay,” I conceded.
We stayed as the sun set, but it was obvious that Wenton needed to go back to the hospital, so Caitlyn and I took a very tired and a very sick Wenton back to the facility. I carried him in, and he was immediately admitted to a room and hooked up to monitors. Then we were given a lecture on our recklessness.
“What you did, Kembrough, was illegal. We called your parents,” Dr. Wells fumed.
“And no one answered the phone, right?” I fumed. “They don’t care, but I do, so I took my dying brother for a joyride, one last time, get over it.”
“I’m still waiting for a return call,” he confessed.
“Good luck with that,” I said sarcastically.
“You gravely endangered Wenton’s life,” the doctor chided.
“He’s dying. His life is already gravely endangered,” I shouted. “I gave him one last chance to see his home, to say goodbye to his childhood, his dreams and his life.”
“You may have shorted his life—”
“By what? A day?”
Dr. Well’s mouth tightened. “Possibly two.”
Caitlyn placed a hand on my arm. “We’re sorry. We hoped it would make him happy.” She smiled her gorgeous smile, which seemed to pacify the doctor.
He took a deep breath and nodded. “I can’t say this as a physician, but as a human, I can’t blame you.”
We stayed in a hotel that night. I needed to be close to my brother, just in case.
I was exhausted and when we slipped into bed, I was in a weird mental space, and I couldn’t find any of my feelings. I was a robot. Caitlyn stroked my hair and my skin and tried to make love to me, but my body and mind refused to work. Instead, she wrapped her body around mine and engulfed me in her flesh. It felt good to be surrounded by someone I loved.
All I wanted to do was turn back time, back to the day when Wenton was born. I wanted to imprint his smiling face into my memory. I would never see another one like it. No one in this world was as kind or as generous. No one loved as freely or as completely as he did. I couldn’t bear to lose him, so I stayed with him in my dreams.
CHAPTER 15
Caitlyn
I didn’t sleep well because I was so anxious and worried about what KP was about to face. He tossed, turned, and cried out most of the night, battling his fears in his dreams. For a man with such a strong personality, seen by most as the epitome of power, he was sad and small that night. I just wanted to hold him and try to make this easier on him.
I knew how hard it all was. Around six in the morning, he got the phone call we had been dreading. Wenton’s time was near.
When we arrived at the hospital, Wenton looked small and sickly against the machines and the wires, but still very much alive. It was like he was waiting for us.
“Hey, Wenton.”
He smiled and lifted a hand, but didn’t have the strength for much else.
“I’m sorry I have to leave you,” he said to KP.
KP took his hand. “I’m going to miss you
like crazy, but I’m also jealous that you get to see heaven.”
“It’ll be really beautiful, right?”
Tears that KP had fought back trickled down his face. “Yeah. You’ll get to bounce on clouds and slide down rainbows.”
I almost couldn’t take it as I watched them and the love they shared with one another. They were the world to each other. Glancing at the machines above Wenton’s bed, I could see that his heart was struggling to beat. There was a faint line that pulsed, but it seemed tinier than it should have been.
His painting!
Yesterday, I’d asked Robert to bring Wenton’s painting and it was still in the trunk.
“You know, Wenton, I never showed you your painting. It turned out great. Would you like to see it?”
A smile appeared. Faded. “Yeah.”
“I’ll be right back.”
As I left, I heard KP offering to read to him, and when I got back, they were still at it. KP was bringing the story of Robin Hood to life with animated voices and a gripping narrative. He’d made a great narrator.
“It’s my favorite,” Wenton said weakly. “Stealing from rich. Give to poor. I want all my money to go to charity.” He looked at his brother. “Make sure.”
The two of them together was so beautiful, I took my phone out and snapped a picture. That was true, honest and beautiful love.
I sent Wenton a text. LOVE = an adoring look.
I heard the ding, and Wenton slowly reached for his phone. He saw the picture and smiled his gorgeous smile.
“There’s only one more picture left in… the… hunt.” He was fading as he spoke.
KP watched Wenton struggle to speak, his Adam’s apple bobbing over and over.
“It’s okay, buddy, I fell in love. I did it. Because of you, I got to meet and fall in love with Caitlyn,” KP said as he smoothed his hands over Wenton’s head, bringing him in closer.
“Well, then why don’t you marry her?” Wenton asked in a childlike manner.
KP licked his lips. “Maybe someday.”
Wenton rolled his eyes. “Well, how’s she gonna marry you if you don’t ask her?”
“Do you think I should ask her now?” KP asked.
Wenton smiled and slowly nodded. My heart was pounding in my chest.
“Like get on my knee?” KP whispered just loud enough for me to hear. Wenton nodded, the smile still playing at his mouth.
KP eyed me, and I smiled before walking over to them, planting both hands on my hips.
“Well?” I encouraged.
Panic flared in KP’s eyes. “I don’t have a ring or anything.”
Wenton pointed at a can of tomato juice. “Use the ringy thing on this,” he said in a shaky, graveled tone.
KP fiddled with the tab until it came off the can and knelt down on one knee.
“Will you, Caitlyn Prince Slayer Ashcroft, please marry me?”
Where he had been nervous just a moment before, he didn’t look nervous now. Instead, he looked very peaceful. Sure.
“Yes,” I said gently as I pulled him up from his knees and scooped him into an embrace. He put the tab on my finger and Wenton snapped a photo with his phone.
“You have to kiss,” he scolded.
So KP and I kissed as he took one more picture. It was all the effort he could muster as he dropped the phone on the bed and lay back down.
“Okay, buddy, it’s done. The hunt is finished, and it’s been a lot of fun. Thank you for making it soo…” KP swallowed hard, unable to finish.
“Oh, my gosh…so fun,” I interjected trying to keep the mood light.
“You’re not done yet,” Wenton added, speaking with his eyes closed. “My last quest is a two partner.” His eyes fluttered back open again. “You have to end the quest and start a new one, where it all began.”
“The lake?” KP asked.
“Of course,” Wenton said, fading.
“Who am I starting the scavenger hunt for?” KP asked, nearly panicked. He was out of time.
“You’ll find out,” was all Wenton offered. “Can you read to me some more?”
“Don’t you want to see your painting, Wenton?”
“Yeah,” his eyes opened again, “I want to see it.”
I picked it up and turned it around. He smiled immediately.
“I’m a handsome devil. Poor KP. I got all the good looks in the family.”
KP and I stared at him, waiting for his chest to rise after the words. It didn’t. And soon, the little line on the monitor didn’t either.
Tears flooded out of me as I watched KP mourn the loss of his little brother. Doctors and nurses rushed in, then slowly walked out, only noting the time of death. Resuscitation wasn’t possible and would have only been cruel.
When we were alone again, I stroked KP’s hair as he held his brother for the last time. When the door opened behind me, I didn’t even bother to turn around to see who it was.
“Kembrough?”
KP stiffened under my hand, and very slowly turned toward the door.
Two stern-looking but impeccably dressed people stood just inside the door. I knew right away that they were KP and Wenton’s parents. The resemblance was remarkable. I remembered the doctor saying he’d called them yesterday. Took them long enough to appear.
KP stood and faced them. “You’re too late.”
His mother’s eyes widened. “Are the doctors going to do anything?”
His mom was silent as she just stared at Wenton.
“They should take the body then,” the father interjected.
“Wouldn’t you like to say goodbye first?” I asked, then wished I hadn’t as two cold sets of eyes turned on me.
“And who is this?” his mother asked.
KP wrapped an arm around me. “This Caitlyn Ashcroft. My fiancée.”
I twisted the tomato juice tab around my finger. He had asked. I had answered. But were we both doing so for his little brother? It was too much to think about so I just nodded. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m sorry we had to meet today. Wenton was so beautiful. We’re going to miss him…” I couldn’t continue, my tears were choking me.
Finally, the mother approached Wenton’s body and took his hand. “He’s so cold,” was all she could say before she broke down.
KP’s father joined her and patted her arm. “The doctors should probably come take care of this.”
“I’ll let you two have some time with him,” KP said as headed from the room, pulling me behind him. He didn’t stop until we were in some conference room and the door was firmly shut behind us.
“I can’t be here for this. I can’t watch them. Not one day in their lives did they ever love him the way they should have,” he nearly screamed, his hands pulling at his hair.
I pulled his hands down and wrapped my arms around him. “They didn’t love you the way they should have either.”
It was a hard thing to watch such a big powerful man cry so helplessly.
“Wenton’s gone, and there’s not much we can do here right now. Let’s get out of here. Where do you think Wenton would want to be right now?” I asked, hoping a change in scenery would help him.
He wiped his face with his shirt. “Ice cream. If he just died and went to heaven, he would want ice cream.”
“Let’s go get ice cream then.”
We told the nurses we were leaving and took the convertible to a mom-and-pop ice cream shop, and I listened as KP reminisced about Wenton’s life.
A week later, we went to Wenton’s funeral at a big, ornate church with hundreds of people in attendance. KP was livid.
“Where were all of these people when he was locked away alone?” KP fumed.
I rubbed his arm. “I know.”
“No one came to visit him.” KP was beside himself.
“Would he have wanted them to? They seem like a really uptight bunch,” I smiled, putting on a prune-ish-looking face.
It got a little laugh out of him.
“Sorry, y
our son died,” I acted in a fake British accent, “We’ll miss little Walter.” I was hoping he’d play along.
“Wenton,” he said in a dry monotone.
“Yes, that’s right,” I continued. “William.”
He smiled and pulled me against his chest.
“Who needs them,” I added.
“That’s who needs them,” he said as he kissed my forehead.
The funeral was melancholy and sad. His urn was displayed with the portrait I had painted and a few pictures of Wenton as a child. None of the photographs were of the marvelous adult I had come to love, but his painting was beautiful and had captured the spirit of his heart.
People offered their condolences, and everything seemed stuffy and stilted. KP introduced me as his fiancée, and it went over pretty much as I thought it would, most were too shocked to speak. I wasn’t a famous actress nor was I one of their inner circle, so I had to be an interloper or a gold digger. Instant hatred from all. Or at least that’s how my warped mind saw it.
We didn’t really revisit the fiancée thing too much. It was how KP introduced me because it gave me some footing with the tough crowd but we hadn’t really discussed the truth of such a title. I was happy to let it ride for a while; I think KP felt the same.
In between shaking people’s hands, his parents were trying to make an effort, and I could see them reaching out to me, asking questions about my work at the art center and school. KP smiled when he told his parents that I would be working with him starting next month. He wasn’t sure how I was going to manage school and an animation career, but he knew I was talented enough to make it work somehow. They seemed genuinely interested in my prospects as an animator of a hip new series for teens. I pulled KP aside as soon as I had the chance.
“A what?” I playfully glared at him.
“I forgot to tell you, I sold your series. You start development next month. Hope you don’t mind, you’re working for me now.” KP backed away a little bit.
“You stole it!” I wasn’t exactly sure how I felt.
“You’ll get paid, in fact, my lawyer should be contacting you soon,” KP said, still inching away from me, just in case.
“KP!” I was both thrilled and so pissed off, the monster!
“Don’t get mad, honey. Soon, what’s mine is yours, and yours is mine, so I didn’t really steal it, steal it. I borrowed it.” He smiled as the people started to gather for Wenton’s eulogy.
